Building equipment for building hulls in large quantities, as shown in FIG. 4, is known. FIG. 4 shows two docks of the one-sided opening type arranged in parallel with each other open to and at right angles to a body of water such as a sea, lake or river.
In this conventional building equipment for a hull, building of hulls is effected by: building a stern A in a stern building stage 13 of one of the two docks according to FIG. 4; building the remaining parts of the hull, i.e., a bow F and a parallel body M and, at the same time, joining both in a bow and parallel body building stage 14 of the other dock; transferring said stern A built in said stern building stage 13 of the one dock from said stern building stage 13 to a hull joining stage 12 through an opened gate 13a by the use of transfer means such as cranes and carriages; causing said bow and said parallel body F + M joined in said bow and parallel body building stage 14 of the other dock to float by introducing water from the body of water into the dock, and transferring by water said bow and parallel body F + M from said bow and parallel body building stage 14 to said hull joining stage 12 through opened gates 14a and 12a; removing the water in the dock from said hull joining stage 12 and joining said stern A to said bow and parallel body F + M to complete building of the hull; causing the completed hull to float by pouring water into the dock and towing out said hull onto the body of water through the opened gate 12a; and, at the same time, with the above-mentioned steps, effecting the building of the bow, parallel body and stern of another vessel in accordance with the above-mentioned steps.
Although the above-mentioned conventional building equipment for a hull is suitable for building hulls in large quantities, it is necessary to provide both docks with various devices necessary for building hulls, e.g., cranes. Besides, on transferring by water the joined bow and parallel body F + M, the operation is sometimes hindered by the influence of the weather such as winds and waves, thus requiring much time and labor.